Does your community have any weird, but neat, Christmas traditions?

[KMyer]

A factory in our community has an 87 year old old tradition of using an old steam whistle to create eerie music at midnight on Christmas Eve. The whistle can be heard up to ten miles away from the factory.

Click on this link to check it out:

Does your community have any weird, but neat, Christmas traditions?

Merry Christmas to everyone!

 

[W2R]

That is indeed weird!

One of the best known weird but neat South Louisiana Christmas traditions, are the hundreds of giant bonfires all along the Mississippi River Levees. These are all lit on Christmas Eve, and are intended to light the way for Papa Noel as he makes his way up river through the fog and towards the homes of good little children here.

http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.s...ve_bonfires_light_u.html#incart_river_default

 

[Nords]

Our downtown Christmas display features a "Shaka Santa". It was originally intended to be a parody of a popular mayor, but it's stayed around long after he departed the office.

Note the kukui lei and the hibiscus hair accessory on Auntie Claus, too...

 

[haha]

That is indeed weird!

One of the best known weird but neat South Louisiana Christmas traditions, are the hundreds of giant bonfires all along the Mississippi River Levees. These are all lit on Christmas Eve, and are intended to light the way for Papa Noel as he makes his way towards the homes of good little children here.

Bonfires light way for Papa Noel along Mississippi River | wwltv.com New Orleans

2009 Christmas Eve Bonfire on the Mississippi River in Gramercy/Lutcher, Louisiana - YouTube

People who built that fire know how to do it. I think that would really be fun.

Ha

 

[kramer]

Here in the Philippines, most people stay up very late on Christmas Eve (Buena Noche) and open their presents with family after midnight. They also eat a big dinner late that evening and many will play games all night. In some neighborhoods (like a subdivision), people will put a table on the street and be eating with their family at midnight. There are lots of fireworks.

I went to a family Christmas Eve party last eve and tried to get home before midnight. I was pulling in on my motorbike at 11:55 PM and just outside of my little apartment complex was some kind of ground-based firework shooting flames about 20 feet high which I did manage to avoid as I pulled in, ha ha

 

[Major Tom]

Here in the Philippines, most people stay up very late on Christmas Eve (Buena Noche) and open their presents with family after midnight. They also eat a big dinner late that evening and many will play games all night. In some neighborhoods (like a subdivision), people will put a table on the street and be eating with their family at midnight. There are lots of fireworks.

I went to a family Christmas Eve party last eve and tried to get home before midnight. I was pulling in on my motorbike at 11:55 PM and just outside of my little apartment complex was some kind of ground-based firework shooting flames about 20 feet high which I did manage to avoid as I pulled in, ha ha

I was engaged to a Filipina for many years and really enjoyed this custom of opening the presents at midnight and staying up for a few more hours. There was lots of drinking, laughing, mahjong playing, and all kinds of merriment until everyone conked out at something like 3 or 4am. On Christmas day, I don't think anyone got out of bed much before noon.

 

[grasshopper]

No, we save our weirdness for the solstice's, equinox's, St Pats Day and the first rain of the monsoon season.

 

[Moemg]

Every year they turn downtown into a winter wonderland complete with snow machine for a day .